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How to make Dahitra

Dahitra Puri is a popular Surti Gujarati recipe served with Shrikhand on a special occasions like wedding. Dahitra is kind of fried biscuits, flaky, mouth melting, a traditional semi-sweet dessert recipe prepared mainly with maida or all purpose flour, deep fried in ghee / oil and served with flavored yogurt known as Shrikhand. I enjoy them not only with shrikhand but love with my Indian tea (Masala Chai) as well. Traditionally, the recipe begins with preparing a light dough from all purpose flour with ghee(Clarified Butter), Dahi (Yogurt) and baking powder. Then the dough is shaped into a small flat balls followed by deep frying in clarified butter but I usually prefer to fry in mix of oil+Ghee. Most vendors fry them in Dalda Ghee(Vegetable Shortening. Below is the video instructions to prepare Dahitra but I have slightly made some changes in the recipe to make Dahitra the best so I recommend to follow the written recipe. But to get the idea of steps, video will be helpful. In my new recipe, I have reduced the amount of Ghee and Sugar which helps to make the Dahitra perfect and no need to bake again in the oven to make crispy.

The Dahitra texture is consist of two key elements, the top layer has a smooth surface and in the inside it has rough flaky texture. And to achieve that texture, I recommend to keep few tips in mind. Here are some important tips and suggestions for a perfect flaky Dahitra recipe. First, kneading the dough light is very critical for this recipe. Make sure to not knead the dough with light hand pressure. Second, while frying the Dahitra, make sure the flame is in low heat. Also i would recommend to use ghee or clarified butter in the place of oil for deep frying. The color of the fried Dahitra is kind of pinkish, not brown.

Dahitra has a shelf-life of about a month or can stay longer in store in a cool dry place.

Serve with Shrikhand or enjoy as tea time snack.

There is a one more delicacy known as Badusha or Balushahi which is like an Indian version of Donut. The recipe remains the same but the fried Dahitras are soaked then in the sugar syrup to make them sweet.